Chapter 25 - Naruhata

"Miss Ai! I am done for today!"

"Sure, get fresh, and then come back for dinner."

"Yes~!"

Koichi Haimawari is a college student who lives in the Naruhata district. This district was a splendid combination of busy urban areas and old remnant buildings. Because of that, Koichi could find a penthouse on top of an old building.

Though he called it a penthouse, it was a small house made on the roof, and the building was empty.

But then recently, someone decided to come and live here, and not only that, she repaired the first two floors and the top floor of the building.

She turned into a restaurant bar on the first floor, the second floor became a private clinic, and the top floor was rebuilt into her penthouse.

"Her's is so much better than mine," Koichi sighed, scratching his head, but his eyes turned towards the board, the one that was marked with pins and pictures, and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Those two should be there already."

He picked up his All Might hoody, rushed back to one floor below, and opened the heavy door. The rush of cold air hit his body, and the lights made him close his eyes for a moment.

"Ah, look, you are finally here."

"Huh? Good. Once we are done with dinner, it'd be straight to training."

"Should I be training after eating?" Koichi nervously spoke, entering the bright room. There was wooden flooring and furnished with the most luxurious furniture. There was almost a golden shine to it.

"Do you want to train an empty stomach?"

"Uh…No…Master…" Koichi slumped his shoulders forward, walking over to the table at the center of the sofa set and the girl with pink hair and eyes. Her hairs were messy, and the glare of her glasses concealed her eyes, but this simple-looking, the snickering girl, wore a one-piece leotard with a heart-shaped opening on her chest and back and used the name Pop Step and acted like a popstar.

Right now, though, she was wearing seifuku, which made her look plain.

"Are you thinking something rude about me," Pop-Step shot a look at Koichi, who trembled, raising his hand, shaking his hands.

"Not at all!"

Pop-Step raised her eyebrows when she felt a shadow loom over her. It made her raise her eyes and look at the burly man with a rugged beard and a lightning scar between his eyebrows, reaching his nose. He was carrying two plates that he put down on the table, "Where is the girl that is allowing us to use her house as the base?"

"Miss Ai should be here soon…but she said she will bring food?"

"Really?!" Pop-Steps eyes became glossy, her lips parted, and she could feel her mouth starting to drool, "Then let's wait for her."

"Master," Koichi fluttered his eyebrows at the burly man, hoping to get his permission.

"You can eat that tomorrow. Today you must eat this," He picked up the plate and started eating the food he cooked.

"It's ok. I'll cook something fresh for you guys in the morning."

"Miss Ai!" Koichi looked up, only to realize that Pop-Step had used her Quirk, Leap, and jumped over the young woman standing at the door, sniffing the polybag she was holding in her hand.

The young woman stroked Pop-Step's head, "There's more than enough for you."

"Thank you for allowing us in your house," Master, who rarely spoke, thanked her respectfully. It was something that Koichi couldn't figure out. Not that he didn't respect her, she was intelligent, beautiful, and rich. Not only did she run a restaurant bar, but he never got why she chose that name. But she also had her private clinic and was a famous doctor, especially among the heroes that worked in this district since her Quirk could heal.

Since she had to handle the Pub and Clinic, she only took on serious, life-threatening, or emergencies. Though, as the waiter, he had seen her diagnose patients plenty of times while working. The spectacular part was that she was never wrong about the diagnosis.

It had become a betting game when people who didn't believe in it came to try her out. Since they knew that her Quirk could heal, that ruled out any X-Ray type Quirk.

"Will you stop staring at her and eat," Pop-Step made him snap out of his thoughts, and Koichi blushed.

"I wasn't staring! I was…I was… thinking that a lot had happened. I mean meeting Master…and then you…and then Miss Ai came to live here. When she first came, this building was broken and a wreck…but now…it's heaven."

The young woman with golden blonde hair chuckled, they were tied in a ponytail, and her bangs covered her right eye, leaving the green one visible, "Well, you give me too much credit. This was all me practicing with my Quirk; the more I learn to use it, the easier all these luxuries are. Though not a fan of them."

"Still, letting Vigilantes like us use your house as a base and Pub to collect information, that must be risky," Pop-Step had already taken her potion of the udon and cucumber salad and blissfully ate, only to stop to show how worried she was.

"Technically, I am not allowed to use my Quirk like this…rather, they don't know that I can use my Quirk like this. But again, because I served to the police, even if they are suspicious, they turn a blind eye to that," Ai leaned against the soft sofa chair, "Big guy here knows that. Otherwise, he wouldn't be here."

Koichi's Master, a Vigilante, named Knuckleduster, put down his chopsticks and bowl, "Right. Be thankful to her, and let's go and train."

"Huh?" Koichi blinked, only to feel his Master pull his collar dragging him on the rug, "Wait, wait! Master! I haven't eaten yet!"

"Villains will not give you the time to eat!"

"But~! You are not a villain?!"

"Isn't he?" Pop-Step scrutinized Knuckleduster, who looked like a Villian.

Ai didn't deny that he did look like a villain, but he seemed to be kind of heart. Her days here started after her fight against the Global Cult Humarise. It wasn't long after the defeat of Flect Turn that Cops and Heroes of Otheon surrounded the whole place.

Though, the sight of hundreds of Quirkless people, half-dead, in dire need of medical attention, and Quirk Users that were half dead, and the scared supporters of Humarise in Otheon, and even the US where she was active as a Vigilante and a few other countries made her out to be a Villian.

Later, it would have become a scandal if they admitted that this Cult had spread so far. Still, she thought she would continue her studies, so she returned to her Uni, only to find that Sasha had disappeared.

It didn't take much for her to guess that Sasha had only come to babysit her until she finally awakened the Quirk or maybe accepted it. Anything that would have guaranteed her safety would have been fine.

'Could've said goodbye,' Ai pressed her lips, eating her dinner. It was good that she had company since she found that she disliked being alone.

Ever since she came here, being a Vigilante was a big no, but then she heard the news of there being some here, and so she started living here. The Pub was to collect information, and the clinic was to make her contacts and earn some favors, and this Penthouse was the base.

She wanted to be involved, but she didn't feel like being a Hero; her days as one were over, but there was no point being a villain; it wasn't in her to be one. That left her with little choice, either be a vigilante or an information broker/nurse for the vigilantes.

As for how she was able to build this? It was the application of her Quirk, Bonds.

[Bond – Allows the User to Manipulate the Bonds between Atoms.

Effect due to Unknown Bloodline – Bond Empowerment – Allows User to be Empowered by Bonds made Across Universes.]

The Boost in strength she got was during the Empowerment Effect of her Quirk, boosting all her stats to Superhuman Levels. The other part, how she was able to build this place without spendings tons of money, was due to her being able to Manipulate Bonds between Atoms, changing the material from one matter to another. Transmutation.

This building was a project that allowed her to master her Quirk, the Transmutation part of it.

Since she could use her Quirk to make food and train it, she did not need workers other than Koichi, who took orders. She took a pillow from the sofa and lay down on the floor.

"Ai, you are the best and all, but all this luxury is wasted on you if you," Pop-Step blinked, looking at her.

"Mm, I am just used to all this," Ai yawned, "Luxury doesn't suit me. I thought you guys would like it…but…."

"I like it," Pop-Step jumped up, lying on the sofa, closing her eyes, "It's great…really great…but…then I think…he's there…training…and I feel embarrassed…being the only one."

"Someone has a crush," Ai chuckled, causing Pop-Step to abruptly sit up, her face covered in blush, "I don't!"

"Yeah, yeah, you tell yourself that," Ai curiously glanced over to her, "Don't mind me asking, but was it Love at First Sight? You have only recently met him."

"It's…it's…not…love!!" She threw a pillow at Ai, muttering, "And…it wasn't…recent…the first time I met him."

"Oh," Ai grabbed the pillow, keeping it over her breasts, curiously blinking, "Oh, tell me!"

"No!"

"Come on! Kazuho!"

"It's Pop-Step!"

"I like Kazuho better," Ai grinned, turning on her stomach, "Could it be you have been keeping an eye on Koichi for a while now?"

"Wha—!!! Shut up! Shut up!!! Shut upppp!!!!!!!!!!!" Pop-Step threw all the pillows at Ai, jumping away, "I am going home!"

Ai chuckled to herself, turning over, lying on the floor, resting her head on the pillow, "Love…."

She sighed, shaking her head, "My chances are low…."

She snapped her fingers, and the lights closed one after the other until little light came from outside. Using her Quirk all day tired her out just enough so that she could have a good night's sleep. Otherwise, she was filled with so much energy that she couldn't fall asleep until two or three days passed.

The following day was like usual, she went down, and Koichi was there, taking the daily supplies, sighing the sheet, and giving it back to the delivery guy.

"Good morning, Miss Ai."

"Good morning, Koichi," Ai smiled, waving at the delivery boy, who held his head, bowing.

She opened the Pub, and there was a slight bit of dust, but more so, there was trash from the night. She only kept it open during the day, and for the night, she had hired proper workers, but "They all leave so much trash. This one won't do too."

"Miss Ai, right here!"

Koichi appeared beside her, holding a garbage bag, making her smile.

"If only I got a few more of you," Ai took a single breath, and her presence disappeared. It was as if she was another rock on the road, a plant in the forest, but her sight could see everything around her. The dust, the trash, and raised her hand to focus on them, 'Break the Bonds.'

Every particle had numerous Bonds, she thought it would just be the land they were touching, but there were more, and these were just Physical Bonds that she could see, but once she broke them all, which part was easy, 'Create a path for the ones that are being blocked, and connect to one point."

"Now, go."

Abruptly, every particle of dust and what Ai designated as trash zoomed-in, moving up in the air and collecting one point. Some zig zagged in the air, others were straight, but they made them to the designated point, forming a big ball of trash.

Ai glanced up at the space above Koichi, and the trash heap zoomed-in, coming apart, slowly falling into the trash bag, "All ready for the day's work."

"So…are you going to fire these guys too?" Koichi prayed for them, but he knew they were done. Ai kept them, so she had to do less work, not more. But he also understood that those who visited at night were demanding customers.

"No… I should start working the nights and keep people to work during the day," Ai pressed her lips, opening the lights which brightened up the Pub. She liked to stay in the bright, and with the morning sun's rays entering the Pub, it was beautiful.

"Yes! Do that!" Koichi clenched his fists in excitement, "That way, you can work as a Vigilante as well!"

"Yeah, no, thank you," Ai blinked, making an annoyed, sad face, "Aw, damn it. I forgot the reason why I was working at days. Someone needs to cook, and working at night means I can't cook. Should I close the breakfast?"

"What?! You are closing breakfast?!"

"No, don't do that!"

Ai had barely walked in when she heard the crowd, making her look over her shoulder at the people who lived nearby and came here to have breakfast every morning.

"Haha, just kidding, guys. What would I do without seeing your faces every morning?"

"Right, right. Don't close breakfast. If you want to close something, stay close at night," A yawning old man walked in, "Not a good crowd."

"Shut up, old man! Ai, please don't close at night! The bands I am managing won't have any place to perform!"

"Guys, not closing anything," Ai giggled, "I'll get the usuals for you, but if you want to change your order, give Koichi!"

Koichi returned right after throwing the trash when he looked at the guests. He was going to take his leave when Ai threw the work at him, "I have my classes!"

"You won't be late," Ai twirled in her place, clasping her hands together, "Please, Koichi?!"

'Too cute~~! I can't refuse~!' Koichi slumped his shoulders, "Fine…I will."

"Koichi, right here! Take my order first!"

"I was here first!"

"Take mine!"

Koichi scratched his head, rushing to the bar to take a pen and pad, before rushing back to the restaurant area, "I'll start with the one near me!"

Ai went into the clean kitchen, which looked like it was never used, but was filled with ingredients. She already knew their orders, and so she started the gas.

She used the bonds heat and the ingredients and bonding them to make the dishes, the usuals that she knew of.

Koichi entered, sticking one slip after the other, "There are more!"

Ai took the slips, checking out the dishes, ticking them off, 'This one…this one…not that one.'

She used the Transparent World, focusing on one dish until she saw its atomic structure. She remodeled fried egg into Miso Soup and Steamed Rice, "This works."

Since she didn't need to keep cleaners and cooks, she could afford prices only the bad restaurants would keep and give them the best she could.

When she started this, she searched for the best restaurants and learned their molecular structure, "Am I cheating? Maybe."

Once Koichi left, she had to go out and take the orders herself. Though she took orders, spent most of the time with them, and then went in after a few ten minutes to bring them food.

Because of this job, she got to talk to them, the regulars, the new ones, and rarely did there come those who wanted to drink even in the morning or afternoon.

If there was one thing she didn't need to worry about, it was someone causing trouble.

There was the kitchen behind the stage, and when she came out of the kitchen, there was the bar on the left, and then on the right were a few bunches of tables. Not many for only about ten to twenty people.

She had chosen the classiest wood for the four-seater round tables and wooden chairs with comfy leather on the back to sit on, "Enjoy!"

The old man and the younger one who were bickering took a whiff of food, letting out a shuddering breath, "Haaaa….it's soooo goooddd~!"

"I am glad you like it," Ai grinned, walking away from them and out of her Pub. She walked back up to the first floor, cleaning it. She had left a notice that they could find her on the first floor if there were any emergencies.

To make sure she wasn't too busy, but busy enough, she didn't make it like the other business, but a place where they could relax and eat and even kept a snooker table.

"I guess it's a good thing that no one is injured," Ai smiled, walking back down the stairs to keep herself busy and hear the neighborhood news.

Even though she was happy with her life now, 'It's not…fulfilling enough. I wonder if I can do more?'